Category: dance

Kelly Tweeddale, who trained as a dancer when young, has spent the past five seasons as president of the Vancouver Symphony; before that, she was for 12 years executive director of Seattle Opera, and she worked previously at the Cleveland Orchestra and Seattle Symphony. She begins work in San Francisco after Labor Day. – San Francisco Chronicle

The news, rumoured for months, was confirmed by the company Tuesday as it announced details of what will be House’s final season at the head of one of Canada’s oldest and most respected contemporary dance troupes.
– Toronto Star

In 1980, Kylián traveled to the Northern Territory to see the largest-ever gathering of Australian Aboriginal tribes; they all spoke different languages, so they communicated with dance. The experience led Kylián to choreograph The Stamping Ground in 1983, and it’s been performed in many countries since. But never in Australia until now, as Bangarra Dance Theatre, the country’s leading Aboriginal company, takes the piece on. – The Sydney Morning Herald

“What if humans are the primates whose capacity to dance (shared by some birds and mammals) was the signature strategy enabling the evolution of a distinctively large and interconnected brain, empathic heart and ecological adaptability? And what if dancing plays this role for humans not just in prehistoric times, but continuing into the present?” – Aeon

“‘I’ve always been attracted to those ballet steps, and using them as a framework, or form, but then changing stuff within that,’ she says. Nevertheless, breaking into the ballet world wasn’t a clearcut goal of hers. … When asked when she became interested in working with ballet companies, Tanowitz answers, laughing, ‘When they hired me!'” – Pointe Magazine

“[Emilie] Skinner launched DNCB in 2011 after dancing with Contemporary Ballet Dallas and carved out a niche re-staging groundbreaking examples of early modernist ballet, particularly pieces by the influential Ballet Russes such as The Afternoon of a Faun, Le Train Bleu and Parade.” – Dallas Morning News

“The ballerina’s challenge is to hide how hard she’s working, which is why behind-the-scenes ballet stories are always so appealing — it’s satisfying to see the athleticism inherent to the art.” – The Cut

Six years ago, the company moved into a newly-rehabbed 11,000-square-foot space with rent and expenses of $15,000 a month — expensive, though below market for the size and location. But the expense of building damage and other after-effects of Hurricane Harvey (2017) led to a cash-flow problem from which METdance has never recovered. – Houston Chronicle